LCR steering play

[GREY 225]

Hi all,dont know if if LCR has a problem but just recently ive noticed steering wheel isnt dead centre,it sits to left by a few degrees,car doesnt pull to left or right and ive had 4 wheel laser alignment done and everything is ok,ive noticed when stantionary with engine stopped there is slight play in steering wheel when moving it side to side and when slowly moving over loose stones on driveway.Had all bushes checked,there ok so all i could think of was worn track rod end,steering was fine when car was new,the red stripe on steering wheel was dead centre and its only done 20k now so not sure if rod end would be worn,have read that LCR steering rack joint gets slight play in it which would explain it and wondered if any of you guys have noticed anything simliar,is it just another leon thing,any advice welcome.Cheers guys.

 

[Willie]

When getting the 4 wheel alignment done why didn't they straighten the steering wheel for you?

 

[GREY 225]

Not sure,to be honest when they showed me the computer print out it meant nothing to me,didnt really understand it,but the toe in etc was all ok,there was lots of figures and setting data and i was told it all met the factory settings and the tyres are all wearing evenly which is a good sign.I wasnt too bothered about steering wheel not being exactly top dead centre but last couple of weeks noticed this slight play in steering and it got me thinking is it all related or just one of those things.

 

[Bonzy1800]

i had a new steering coloum fitted to my LCR a few months back when my car was under warrenty ever so slight play/knock when stationary turning steering wheel ever so slightly left to right (very very little play but i noticed it)
i thought it was the rack but greg (Seat tech goble on here) correctly said it is was the coloum and its been spot on since
ps my car is 3 years old 15k mileage @ the time

 

[goble]

cheers bonzy

 

[sureal]

GREY 225 I had same play in steering but wheel was straight, SEAT had it on ramps for an hour, workshop foreman says its a "characteristic" and there is nothing wrong with it are you on about was my response, still havent got it fixed(under warranty) as thats was only recently and I was to see if it developed further.

 

[goble]

it's the lower knuckle actually on the coloumn itself

 

[sureal]

time for me to get upside down in my car and have a look myself me thinks, thanks goble

 

[GREY 225]

Yeh,cheers for that fellas,i think i will put up with it for now,main thing is tracking is all set ok at minute,and it sounds as if its a bit of a common thing this steering joint,it is only very slight play in steering when engine stopped.

 

[GREY 225]

how have you guys got on with this?

my LCR constantly pulls to the left and the steering is angled to the right slightly.

just had new tyres and tracking done and it's still doing it.

could this be due to the lower knuckle?
is it something i can do myself?

I decided to leave it for now,tracking is more or less spot on and steering doesnt pull to right or left so im happy,i can put up with steering being not 100% top dead centre,if i take it to dealers im worried that if they adjust steering to top it will bugger tracking or something else up.